Bed table for supporting a book facing downwardly



D. G. WEBSTER March 27, 1951 BED TABLE FOR SUPPORTING A BOOK FACING DOWNWARDLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 3l, 1949 Inventor Doug/as 6. Webster March 27, 1951 D. G. WEBSTER BED TABLE FOR SUPPORTING A BOOK FACING DOWNWARDLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 31, 1949 g m w..

Inventor Patented Mar. 27, 1951 AUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BED TABLE FOR SUPPORTING A BOOK FACIN G DOWNWARDLY 1 Claim. l

` The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in tables and more particularly to a table designed primarily for use in holding a book in a convenient and comfortable position for reading by a person lying in bed, and for other purposes.

An important object of the invention is to provide a folding table of this character and embodying a transp-arent book support held in a raised position above a person lying in bed and by means of which the open pages of a book may be held face downwardly on the book holder and in a position for reading by the person.

A further object of the invention is to provide a foldable stand by means of which the book holder or rack may be supported in a desired adjustable position.

A still further object is to provided means for adjusting the book holder or rack by means of which the same may be supported in a position either above or below the level of the eyes of a person to hold a book or other article while the person is lying in bed flat on his back, orl while the person is occupying a sitting position.

A still further object is to p-rovide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is strong and durable, neat and attractve in appearance, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refere to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective View showing the stand in an open position With the book rack held above the eyes of a person lying in bed.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view;

Figure 3 is a top plan view;

Figure 4 is a front elevational View;

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the stand and rack in a, folded position, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on a line 6-6 of Figure 2 and showing the locking construction for the legs of the foldable stand.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein for the purpose of ilustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates a stand generally composed of an inverted U-shaped rear frame 6 to provide a pair of legs 1, each leg including upper and lower portions 8 and 9 and a. rail I0 is suitably connected at its rear end to each lower portion 9 of the leg and extends in a forward direction with a leg II at the front end of the rail.

The legs 1 and II of the stand 5 may be of a suitable length to rest on a bed I2 adjacent the side edges thereof, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, or the legs and stand 5 may be constructed of a suitable size for resting upon a floor and with the frame 6 straddling a bed.

A horizontal bar I3 is formed with trunnions Ifi at each end rotatably supported in the upper portions 2 of the legs, the outer ends of the trunnions having a plate I5 suitably secured thereto and constructed in the form of a segment of a disk with the trunnion I4 positioned at the axis of the segment. An arcuate slot I6 is formed in plate l5 and in which a bolt and wing nut l1 is positioned and fixed to the upper portion of the leg above the trunnion, the wig bolt clamping the plate I5 against the frame 6 to hold bar I3 in a rotatably adjusted position.

A pair of arms I8 are Xedly secured at their rear ends to the bar I3 and project forwardly therefrom and with their front ends pivotally attached to the side portions of a frame I9 in which a glass or other transparent sheet 29 is supported.

The arms I8 are pivoted to the frame I9 adjacent its upper edge and a pair of lower arms or yprops 2I are pivotally attached to the lower side edges of frame I9 and extend therefrom in a rearward direction and are formed with a longitudinal slot 22 for receiving a bolt and wing nut 23 carried at the rear portion of arms I8 to hold the lower arms or props 2| in a forwardly or rearwardly slidably adjusted position.

The lower edge of frame I9 is provided with front and rear flanges 24 and 25 by means of which a book or other article may be supported at either the front or rear of the glass 20 when tilted either forwardly or rearwardly as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2 to provide a book rack or holder.

The upper and lower leg sections 8 and 9 are connected to each other for rotation of the lower leg section by means of a rod 26 having its upper end threadedly connected to a horizontal member 2l in the upper leg section and having its lower end slidable in a horizontal member 28 in the lower leg section and provided with a coil spring 29 held under tension against the underside of lower horizontal member 28 to draw the lower leg section 9 upwardly toward the upper leg section 8. A tube 30 secured in the upper leg section 8 and on which the lower leg section 9 is slidable guides the lower section during its vertical sliding movement.

The abutting ends of leg sections `I3 and 9 are undulated as shown at 3| to provide humps 32 and valleys 33 to seat one within the other to lock the lower leg section in its upper or retracted position and with the rails I extending forwardly as shown in Figure 1.

In the operation of the device, with the standA 5 supported on a bed or on the floor with the frame 6 straddling the bed and frame I9 tilted into a desired position and held by the adjust ment of lower arms or props 2l. The top of the frame I9 may be tilted forwardly as shown by the full lines in Figure 2 whereupon a book may be supported with its leaves open and facing downwardly on glass 20 for reading by a person lying flat upon the bed and looking up toward the book, or the frame I9 may be tilted in an opposite direction as shown by the forward dotted lines in Figure 2 to hold a book on the glass lface upward for reading by a person while in a sitting position.

When not in use, the book rack or frame I9 may be folded downwardly by releasing bolt and wing nuts I7 to permit rotation of bar I3 for swinging arms I8 downwardly, as shown `in 'Figure 5, and pulling lower ends of legs 9 downwardly and rotating the same to swing rails I9 and legs Il inwardly against the folded frame I9.

In View of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed Ias new is:

A table for supporting a book for reading by a person lying in bed comprising a sheet of transparent material for supporting the book face down, a frame for said sheet having sides, and a stand including a pair of side rails, front and rear side legs connected in side pairs by said side rails for resting on the bed in pairs upon opposite sides of the body of the person, said rea1` legs extending above said front legs and side rails, a rear cross member connecting said rear legs above said side rails, and means suspending said frame at its sides on said cross member in forwardly offset relation thereto and with said sheet tilted upwardly and forwardly of the support over the facesof the person comprising pairs of bars having front ends pivoted to opposite sides of the frame at longitudinally spaced points thereon, one pair of bars having rear ends rigidly connected to said cross member, the other pair of bars crossing the rigidly connected pair and being pivotally and slidably connected thereto for adjustment to vary the tilted position of said sheet relative 'to the rigidly Vconnected bars.

DOUGLAS G. WEBSTER.

REFERENCES 4C'IED The following references are of record in the iile oI' this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 357,074 Fee Feb. 1, 1887 598,077 Comee Feb. 1, 1898 720,842 Peace Feb. 17, 1903 971,081 Schnorr Sept. 27, 1910 1,057,958 Hallock Apr. 1, 1913 1,273,354 Ganzel July 23, 1918 1,341,998 Koechlin June l, 1920 1,420,404 Bever June 20, 1922 1,807,500 West May 26, 1931 1,925,087 Andren Sept. 5, 1933 2,234,483 Sutton Mar. .11, 1941 2,299,910 Linderme Oct. 27, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 313,309 Austria July 15, 1907 

